Anyone who caught Grimes’ gig at 170 Russell will tell you the same thing – to put it bluntly, she was fucking incredible. There wasn’t a single person who walked out of that venue without a beaming smile on their face, almost as if the showering of lights and sound had cleansed us of all negativity. Claire Boucher’s performance accentuated her incredible vocal range and wide variety of instrumental talents, backed by a vibrant and endearing sense of showmanship. It was by no means flawless, yet the supportive and happy crowd responded to her every move (including under-the-breath cursing, which gained supportive laughter and applause). It takes a special performer to turn weakness into a positive ingredient, but Boucher had such charm that she could have set the place alight, shrugged, said “whoops” and the audience still would’ve been happy.
The set itself was unrelenting. For the most part it was a powerful barrage on the eyes and ears. The prelude to the performance foreshadowed this – a pair of professional dancers who took to the stage and began shifting robotically to the sound of roaring bass, which cut out into dead silence before the crowd chimed in with thunderous applause. As the show went on, there were very few moments when some form of intricate dance, light spectacle or amplified sound wasn’t commanding the room’s attention.
Boucher reached the stage with guitar in hand and started ripping into Flesh Without Blood. The song maintained its familiar catchy beat and bubblegum vocals, but the performance gave it new depth – the audio/visual energy emanating from the stage inciting a sense of astonishment you couldn’t get from idly listening to the radio. Realiti threw intense drum programming into the mix, and the soaring synths proved that Grimes’ production-heavy music could translate to the live stage without a hitch.
Daunting vocals were contrasted with moments of innocence, which applied to her manner in between songs. She’d share surplus information about an upcoming song or swear if she sang flat or forgot the words, yet she conveyed a fun and relatable persona throughout the evening. Outside of this, she danced around with microphone in hand, pulling out fantastic, well-rehearsed moves to add more flavour to the show.
BY THOMAS BRAND
Photo by Ian Laidlaw
Loved: All of it.
Hated: Really conflicting going to a Grimes concert as a lover of metal.
Drank: Be-eer.
